Page 21 of Between the Lies

‘I’m so sorry for your loss.’ Daisy parroted the words everyone seemed to slide his way recently. Another unDaisylike response. He didn’t know the young woman that well, but he knew her enough to know something was wrong.

‘What is it? And don’t tell me it’s nothing.’

Daisy sighed, moving her gaze from her coffee to him. ‘I think I’m going to fail my macroeconomics class. I’m just a dumb blond.’

Robert raised his eyebrows. ‘Those don’t sound like your words.’

‘It doesn’t matter. I’m going to fail.’

‘But you work so hard.’

Daisy wasn’t having it. She pushed her coffee aside. ‘That’s the problem, Rob. I spend all my free time trying to get it right, but each time Dr Chang asks me anything in class, I get it wrong.’ She leaned in closer. ‘They laugh at me.’

‘Daisy.’ Robert touched her hand, wanting her to look at him and not study the floor. ‘I know you’re smart.’

‘You wasted your money on me. I’m only good for being an escort.’ She hung her head and took another sip of her coffee. ‘Your wife was right.’

Robert sighed. She wasn’t going to listen to him – to any of his arguments. How could he explain that he hadn’t paid for her tuition because she was just a girl in need? He’d seen a spark in her. And clearly, her professor had noticed her brains. No way would they have accepted her otherwise.

He changed tactics. ‘What else could you be doing?’

‘What I’m good at…’ She pointed to her tights and high heels.

Robert cocked his head. ‘Last time we spoke about this, you said you were sick of “brats getting handsy” and were’ – he held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart – ‘this close to “chopping off a few Ds”. Has that changed?’

‘I just told you. People like me are only good at one thing.’

‘I don’t believe you, Daisy.’

He’d never been a mentor or a parent. Fate had taken care of that for him. Was he saying the right things to Daisy? Was he even supposed to butt in?

If Anne had lived and they’d had what they’d wanted… Robert shook his head. ‘Daisy?—’

She crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I told you. Your wife was right. You should’ve kept that money.’

It was too soon… too soon to talk about it. Paying for Daisy’s tuition had been his idea. Anne hadn’t liked it. She’d argued that they could’ve spent that on IVF, and he’d replied that Daisy was here, alive and in need. And that a baby might just not be in the cards for them.

That argument had been just another fissure in a fractured marriage.

And now here they were – Anne gone and Daisy now talking about quitting. Robert wasn’t good at the parenting thing or the mentoring part, but given his string of recent losses, he wasn’t taking this from Daisy.

‘I’ve already paid your tuition. Something I got into an argument about with my wife. And now she’s dead. If you quit, I’d have fought with her over nothing. So don’t make me feel worse about it. If not for yourself, just finish the damn degree for me, Daisy.’

She blinked at him. ‘Er…’

‘Anne is dead. Someone killed her, and I’m on the brink of losing my job. So, please, I… Don’t argue with me.’

‘What if I fail?’ Her voice was small.

Robert poked a finger into his own chest. ‘I believe in you. And for once, just once, prove I was right. I need something to be right, Daisy, please.’

He stared straight into her eyes, imploring her to understand. Perhaps she was struggling with confidence. Or maybe there was a topic she just couldn’t wrap her head around. Each were solvable problems.

Robert made a note to check in with Dr Chang. Last month, the bloke had praised Daisy. So what the hell had gone wrong?

Robert drained the latte. ‘Say yes, Daisy.’

‘Fine,’ she huffed. ‘But we’ll have this conversation again when I fail?—’

---